DT - Past Terror
by WriterRoxas
Summary: Kurumi, forced to face her demons by the ever-terrifying Gengetsu, must now deal with her past and the situations that led to her associating with the like of Yuuka Kazami in the first place. And maybe, just maybe, not lose her mind while reconciling with her past. Sequel story to Dreaming Terror. Reading it is recommended, but not entirely necessary.


"And so, I'd gotten to thinking... if you were to talk about your problems, it'd be easier to solve them, y'know?" a blonde woman chirped brightly to her conversational partner. With a smile wide enough to take up the entire lower portion of her face, and blonde hair falling to her shoulders, alongside the white, feathery wings that seemed vast and majestic even when folded upon her back, you would be forgiven for thinking that she may be an angel.

The person she was talking to, another blonde with much longer hair, and small, dark, leathery wings that seemed to contrast the other female, simply nodded.

"And since no one seems to have tried to help you out, I thought it was only right that your sweet, lovable mother step in and heal the wounds in your heart!"

Another nod.

"...Oh, right, you can't talk if that's in the way!" the angel laughed, untying the gag from the other's mouth. The leather-winged girl gratefully sighed in relief, baring small, pointed things, and then shuffled uncomfortably in the other binds she was trapped inside of.

Giggling, the angel took a seat opposite her captive, "Sorry, Kury~! But I don't want you running away today! You'll have to get over your shyness so we can solve your problems!"

'Kury' – or, as she preferred to be called, Kurumi – shifted some more, and sighed in defeat. Today was apparently going to be one of those 'life hates you' days. Tied down by what the vampire was _pretty_ sure was the embodiment of everything wrong with the universe, with the vague, worrying goal of 'solving problems' was not going to make it into her top ten favourites list.

The angel – or, to be much more accurate, demon – known as Gengetsu, reached over to the coffee table that was inexplicably there suddenly, and offered her beloved guest a biscuit. When she received no reply, Gengetsu happily devoured all biscuits that lay upon the phantom table before continuing.

"So, Kury, you've had issues for a long time, now," Gengetsu began brightly, while the captive vampire could only despair as the poster-child for 'issues' seemingly mocked her, "And I think, if you're ever gonna heal, you'll have to talk about them!"

_As you've said several times by now. _Kurumi mentally criticised.

"So, let's start from the beginning!" the demon suggested gleefully, leaning forward in her armchair, eyes wide with anticipation, "Y'know, when ya got kicked out!"

Kurumi thought her blood had stopped circulating for a second, and she stared emotionlessly at the demon. As much as she feared Gengetsu, and would gladly dance naked in front of a crowd of lecherous perverts if it meant keeping her away for a day... there were some things the vampire would never do. And reliving _that_ part of her life was not one of them.

"It's a necessary step!" Gengetsu pressed, seeing the obvious reluctance on display, "Besides, it's been, like six kajillion years! I want exposition!"

Kurumi heaved a weary sigh, "look, um... Gengetsu-"

"I told you, call me Gengen!"

"...Look, I, uh, suppose I appreciate the effort and all," the bound vampire began nervously, "but, uh... talking about those times will do exactly nothing to help with these... what issues are you even talking about?"

Gengetsu held up her hand, extending a finger for each topic listed, "Family issues! Repressed Elly lust! Your feelings of inadequacy-"

Enraged at said topics, Kurumi yelped and tried to leap to her feet with indignation. Unfortunately, given how tight the bonds around her ankles were, all the vampire managed to do was fall face-first onto the coffee-table-from-nowhere.

"Well, if they weren't issues, you wouldn't be acting so silly, now would you?" the demonic entity laughed playfully, picking Kurumi up from the table, and promptly placing her on her lap. Kurumi decided she liked nothing about this.

Gengetsu, either not noticing or not caring about Kurumi's extreme discomfort and rising fear, wrapped her arms loosely around the vampire's torso, "So, why don't we begin?"

"But..."

"I'll let you go if you do."

_God damn it_.

Ten minutes passed as Kurumi wrestled with the idea of an early release. On the one hand, she did not want to recall those days, before she had met Elly and Yuuka Kazami. On the other... she was probably one Gengetsu away from a life worse than death if she refused.

"...Fine. What do you want to hear," Kurumi groaned. Gengetsu let out a little cheer of victory.

"Well, something about the start would be lovely!" the demon suggested, "gimme tons of details!"

"...I'll see what I can do."

From her vantage point, the lights were nothing more than little flickers. Tiny flames dancing within the night-clad village, desperately seeking the creature that swelled in the shadows, preying upon the weak, pathetic humans that wielded the torches. Their light would never reach her. Mostly because the creature in question was comfortably watching from the home of the village elder.

He was down there at this very moment, his fellow villagers completely unsuspecting that he was under her control. Such a weak-minded person was easy to entrance. Hell, all humans were! They were nothing more than cattle to a vampire of her stature, after all.

Giggling with high spirits, Kurumi turned from the window, stepping towards the female sitting quietly on the edge of her bed. Like her father, the elder, she was bewitched by the vampire. She had remained behind to quench Kurumi's thirst. Once she had taken advantage of their bath and fine clothes ('fine', being used loosely; Kurumi had worn far more befitting clothes, these were nothing more than rags to her), and sent the elder off to deter any questioning humans of the whereabouts to this household's occupants.

Plopping herself onto the bed, Kurumi wrapped an arm around the bewitched human's shoulders, grinning expectantly. "You sure smell nice. I don't think I've come across such high-quality blood in a long time! You should be proud, girl!"

The blonde's arrogance was obvious, but her captive was in no position to complain. Instead, she merely tilted her head, exposing her neck as she stared blankly ahead. Kurumi stroked her neck slowly, licking her lips with anticipation.

"I promise I won't take too much," she whispered teasingly, "I'm not a greedy girl... I just don't wanna starve, y'know? You won't even notice the marks!"

Finally leaning closer, Kurumi gently placed her lips upon the girl's neck, fangs ready to pierce the skin and let the prize within flow.

There was the sound of footsteps in the next room.

Suddenly alert and fearing an attack, Kurumi sat up, her body and wings stiff with anticipation. Narrowing her eyes, she peered through the bedroom door, vision unimpeded by the darkness.

"...You can come out now," Kurumi called out cautiously. She was certain it hadn't been her imagination, but she wasn't picking up any signs of life outside this room. Slowly, the vampire stepped forward, ready to fight back whatever may appear. Nothing happened.

When Kurumi had passed into the next room, she exhaled. It must have been in her head, after all. Just a little paranoia from being discovered, maybe? Nah, that was ridiculous. No human would come here, and they couldn't do a thing to her, anyway.

Chuckling derisively, she turned to resume her meal, and froze at the sight of a figure in a grey cloak looming over said meal.

The girl seemed unconscious now, and free of her bonds. A silver knife was held in the cloaked figure's hand, and the figure itself seemed to be checking her over.

"Wh-what...?" Kurumi muttered. Shaking her head, she gritted her teeth and snarled at the intruder, "Who the hell are you?! How did you get in there?!"

The figure turned its head towards the vampire. Kurumi could see strands of silver hair poking from the dark hood, pale blue eyes glaring coldly at her. It made the vampire's body stiffen with fear for a second.

"Well?" Kurumi pressed, stepping forward and extending her wings slightly, trying to intimidate her opponent. "Not gonna talk? Well... fine! I'll just kill you, instead!"

The cloaked figure merely turned its body towards her, knife limply held at her side.

_Taking me lightly, huh? Arrogant little wretch._ Kurumi bared her fangs, ready to pounce. She'd subdue this idiot real quick, have her fill, then just leave. She didn't want to risk anyone else randomly appearing.

However, the mental image Kurumi had regarding the subjugation was slightly different from reality. Whereas Kurumi had foreseen her swift and bloody victory, what really happened involved the cloaked human moving the few steps within an instant, her face uncomfortably close to Kurumi's, and then a fist driving itself into her stomach, sending the stunned vampire flying for a wall in the next room.

Grunting in pain, Kurumi staggered to her feet, glaring at the person in the cloak. That was way too fast for a human. Even if the distance had been short, a vampire like herself should not have been unable to perceive movement!

"Annoying asshole..." Kurumi growled furiously, raising her hand. A purple aura began to gather around it, drawing magical energy from the air, "If that's how you want it, I'll ju-"

Pain shot through her hand, and Kurumi's arm jerked, her neck suddenly constricting alongside the back of Kurumi's head smacking the wall behind her, too. Dazed, she barely registered the speed at which the figure had moved once more, until Kurumi found herself thrown through a nearby window.

Glass shattering around her, Kurumi landed on her back, crying out in pain as shards embedded themselves on her back and wings. Gritting her teeth through it, she struggled to her feet, watching the cloaked human casually leap through the broken window, now with a look of confusion and fear.

"_Wha- how- when- what?!_ The terrified vampire tried to understand what was happening. How the hell did she get a knife in her hand and thrown out of a window in the space of time it took for her to raise the now-useless hand?! No human was that fast! But whoever this was, it definitely wasn't a youkai or anything like that. So why-

Seeing the terror approaching, Kurumi stumbled back, falling as her bare foot was pierced by yet another glass shard. Shuddering, Kurumi could barely contain her mounting fear, and desperately threw a basic spell to fend off her assailant. It went about as well as either of them could expect.

"...L-leave me alone," Kurumi whimpered, staring into the blue, cold eyes of her soon-to-be-killer, "I-I didn't do a-anything, so please-"

"Kurumi Scarlet," The silver-haired assailant suddenly spoke, her voice revealing her to be female. Kurumi flinched at this.

"H-how did you kn-"

"I'm surprised a vampire of your stature would just be wandering without protection," the female spoke once more, "But at least it is convenient for me. Now, tell me; where are the rest of you?"

Kurumi's mouth wordlessly flapped, too stunned to articulate a response to her assailant. This strange woman must be a Vampire Hunter, but... what kind of Hunter would think they could take on the Scarlet Family? They were far and away the most powerful vampires in Europe – probably the world. There was not a single human and virtually no other creature that could hope to oppose them!

The terrified member of said family did not like being the exception to that.

A knife was pointed directly at her neck now, the hooded hunter kneeling beside Kurumi's body. She could barely see those cold, unmerciful blue eyes from within the shadowy confines of her head, framed by silver hair. "Answer, unless you have no need for your voice."

"...I... I..." Kurumi croaked, shaking violently as fearful tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to crawl away once more, ignoring the excruciating pain she felt all over her body. Pain was awful and she hated it, but it was better than whatever would happen if she didn't get away, so if she could just outpace this monster-

Effortlessly and cruelly smashing this hope to pieces, the assailant grabbed Kurumi's hair, painfully lifting the crying vampire to eye level, "I take it you don't wish to answer?"

"I-I-I c-can't!" Kurumi yelled desperately, "I-I was-"

The panicked creature of the night gritted her teeth, trying to prevent herself from sobbing. She was already humiliated and tortured enough, she didn't want to keep on piling up the disgrace.

"You were...?" the Hunter mused aloud, a small smirk forming, "...I see, it makes sense. You're just trash they threw away."

Dropping Kurumi amidst the glass shards once more, Kurumi finally let her sobs escape as more and more blood seeped onto her 'borrowed' clothes, pain coursing through seemingly every fiber of her being.

"And because of that, you no longer know where they roam," the hunter sighed with some annoyance, "Well, I suppose it's my fault for not making the obvious connection – the Scarlets never resort to such cheap meals, after all."

Those words wounded her heart, but it was nothing she hadn't already endured from her former family already. Kurumi could handle words much better than the physical pain right now. If this hunter's business was done... then...

"Oh, right, your judgement."

The pain was blinding. Something pierced one foot, then the other, pinning them to the ground. As Kurumi screamed in agony, something sharp pierced her injured hand, and finally her remaining limb joined the rest, impaled by silver knives and leaving her unable to move as blood pooled from her hand sand feet.

"As a vampire, you have attacked and stolen the life force of innocent men and women," the hooded human spoke coldly, "as well as material objects. If you were human, these crimes alone would be an executable offense."

The hunter turned her head, towards the source of a pale glow that seemed to be drawing closer, "...I am sure they will not lessen such a sentence for an inhuman beast."

Watching the ever-growing lights approach, the pitiable vampire had ceased all movement, as the pain from doing so was proving overwhelming. This situation... it detailed exactly why she had been cast from – no... why she had left the Scarlets. Had it been her younger sister, this would have never happened, no doubt,

Too pained to even beg for mercy, Kurumi simply cried. The Hunter, with a snort of derision, turned and, with a swish of her cloak, disappeared from view. Kurumi could hear the voices of the villagers as her consciousness began to fade. This kind of pain really was too much for someone as delicate as her... if she woke up and this wasn't just a terrible nightmare, Kurumi was going to have to murder the hell out of something.

Yeah, murdering the hell out of things was going to have to wait, it turned out.

Having woken up very uncomfortably, Kurumi learned that _had_ just happened was a nightmare after all – it just happened to be reality as well. And it was still going on.

She had been uprooted from the ground at some point, and was now bound to, of all things, a giant cross. Arms outstretched and palms nailed quite securely, her feet had also been given the same treatment. And then some asshole must have thought it'd be funny to give her a garlic necklace or something. If it weren't for the ever-present pain, she'd be hurling so much abuse right now.

Unfortunately, all she could do was glower blearily and hatefully at the gathering of humans that surrounded her crucifix, the base of which was surrounded by combustible materials.

Shit. Shit shit shit. I hate this day. Today has sucked so hard. Kurumi smiled gloomily to herself. Her craptastic luck was quite comedic all of a sudden. Did impending death also per-emptively kill your sense of humour too?

She could hear someone yammering on about sins and stuff. Kurumi wasn't exactly in the state of mind to pay any real attention, but that was presumably the village elder, acting tough now that the horrible demon was captive and unable to do anything. If it weren't for her current predicament, Kurumi would so totally counter his claims.

Soon enough, his attention was turned towards Kurumi. The aged man sneered up at the captive vampire, gloatingly declaring, "Heathen wench of darkness! Tonight, you will die and be thrown to Hell! If you wish to plead for forgiveness, we will be willing to hear your cries!"

_How freakin' nice._ Kurumi very much wanted to spit back. _While you're being so goddamn generous, why not pull out these fucking nails? They hurt. A lot._

Instead, however, the captive blonde simply glared down at him. It didn't matter what she said to them, after all. They were going to kill her, which was way too over-the-top. Seriously, all she did was try and take a little sip of some random girl's blood! It wasn't like she was turning anyone into a familiar or something! Hell, they should be grateful that she was even willing to partake in their filthy, commonplace blood!

"You remain silent, demon? Very well! But do not think you can hold your tongue forever!" the elder cried, turning once more to the crowd, "The execution of this hell spawn shall now commence!"

Cries and cheers of approval roared from the public, and Kurumi could only glare at them, loathing burning within her eyes. For people that loved to pant her kind, and anything even partly non-human as evil, despicable monsters, they sure did a good job of being far more sadistic and cruel than anyone she had ever met. Well, if this was the kind of treatment humans gave their own Messiah, what hope in hell did she have?

Someone emerged from the crowd, a teenaged girl from the looks of her. Blonde hair, with curls bobbing just above her shoulders, and clad with a straw hat that obscured the upper face of her face. Kurumi could only tell she was female from the body proportions she could make out. A torch was held in one hand. No doubt her executioner.

"Ah, you shall burn this horrible demon, young one?" The elder asked with glee, stepping aside to let her pass, "Be wary of any offers and deals she may make; this vampire wants nothing more than to suck us all dry!"

The girl passed him wordlessly, stopping at the foot of the large cross. Kurumi's mouth was pressed shut as she tried to control her shaking. There was no doubt she was terrified, but she didn't want to beg to these people. Besides, it wouldn't work anyway, and at the very least, she wanted to look as dignified as possible when the flames peeled her flesh and reduced her heart to ash. She was a superior creature to humans, after all, might as well show them the strength of her pride!

_Please don't kill me, please please please please I don't wanna die! _Kurumi desperately wanted to yell as the girl turned her gaze upwards, smiling mischievously at her.

"...It's your lucky day," the girl said brightly, "My Master's decided to extend her charity towards you, vampire. Would you like me to save you?"

Well, that was unexpected.

"...What?" Kurumi said suspiciously, expecting a fake-out. That girl had to be trying to mentally torture her or something, right? She cast a glance at the elder, who was staring the girl with shock and confusion. At the very least it wasn't a pre-planned prank.

"I'd decide quickly, by the way," Advised the strange girl, "Master doesn't want to linger. Do you want to come with us or not?"

Kurumi opened her mouth to demand an explanation, like what the hell she was talking about, who this master of hers was, how she expected to save her when there was a whole village right behind her... but that suddenly didn't matter. Kurumi didn't want to die like this, after all, and it seemed to be the only chance she was going to get at surviving. The strange girl probably wasn't human, which could only mean...

"...Fine. Help me," Kurumi replied with a shaking voice.

"Girl, who are you?" the elder barked, roughly grabbing the girl's shoulder and forcing her to look into his eyes. The girl merely grinned up at him, dropping the torch to the ground.

With a light push, he was sent sprawling towards the crowd, who stared in silent shock as the girl turned back to the crucifix, a thoughtful expression on her face as the torch she carried abruptly died off and was discarded.

"Carrying this cross'll be a bit of a pain, and you probably want to get out of those nails, so..." the girl began to rise, causing a collective gasp from the villagers. A few of them even screamed and ran away.

Kurumi gritted her teeth as her savior placed a hand on the nail binding her feet, "This might sting a little. You ready?"

"N-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Before she could even reply, explosive pain erupted from where the nail was extracted. Fresh blood flowed from her open wounds as she sagged lower from her perch, arms screaming in tandem with her palms as they tried to support her weight.

The girl quickly lifted Kurumi slightly with one arm, trying to lessen the burden and reached towards one hand with her other arm. With a quick motion, she freed Kurumi from the nails, sending fresh waves of sickening pain throughout the damaged vampire's body, who could only lay upon the girl's shoulder, trying not to cry, faint or vomit.

"Are you holding up all right?" the hatted girl asked, receiving a pained groan befitting an undead in reply, "Uh-huh... okay, no problem."

Suddenly, Kurumi found her legs being swept from underneath, and was now resting the girl's arms, held in a bridal position. This slowly brought a faint trace of colour back to her face, who momentarily forgot her pain to splutter and stammer with confusion.

"Relax, I said I was going to help," the girl said, glancing down at the embarrassed vampire with a hint of confusion. Her bright yellow eyes flicked back to the villagers, who seemed to be slowly progressing from a shocked mob, to a very, _very_ angry one, "Though I really wonder how you managed to get yourself into this mess..."

"...Reasons," Kurumi answered evasively, glancing nervously towards the rowdy crowd, "So, um, not to rush you or anything, but..."

A small group of villagers armed with torches, pitchforks, and one special snowflake wielding a spear advanced upon them, trying to look as menacing to the girls as possible. The Mystery Heroine didn't seem perturbed by this, and only grinned mockingly.

"It's your lucky day as well, foolish humans," the curly-haired girl snickered, "I wasn't given any orders to kill you, so I'd take the chance to return home to your families. Otherwise..."

"Go to hell, you freaks!" yelled the spear-toting man, who lunged forward. With a small sigh, the girl leaped high. Very high. With stunned expressions, the villagers watched as the hatted girl effortlessly rose in the air, balancing comfortably atop the crucifix upon the toes of one foot, while Kurumi clung to her as best she could with mangled hands.

"Gotta love it when idiots don't know when to quit," sighed the saviour, "I'd love to teach them a lesson, but..."

Someone lit the base of the cross with their torch, flames slowly engulfing and spreading upwards. The girl only rolled her eyes at this ineffectual attempt to kill them off and simply leaped. As if she were gliding, the girl steadily soared towards the girl, touching down quite a distance away from the mob, where she walked away calmly.

Kurumi simply stared at the girl's face in wonder an awe. She was quite young-looking, and most certainly not human. And admittedly... cute.

Yeah, well, not as much as me! Kurumi found the need to argue with her own assessment as she looked away, frowning. Craning her neck, Kurumi could see that some humans were attempting to chase them down. For some inexplicable reason.

"Um... I don't think they wanna let us go," Kurumi noted. With a quick glance over her shoulder, the girl sighed and continued her pace, the dirt road leading towards a distant hill. A tree grew just to the side of the road a short distance away, and Kurumi noticed a somewhat tall figure next to it, arms folded and some sort of stick clasped in her arm. No doubt an accomplice to Kurumi's rescuer, but why were they even bothering?

"Stop, demons!" screeched a villager as he approached with his pitchfork drawn, "we shall not permit you to spread your evil further!"

The girl ignored this and continued on.

"I said stop!" the generic villager roared. And at that moment, Kurumi felt the air grow heavy and thick.

Apparently, so did the villager, as he seemed to freeze, breathe caught in his throat. He fell to his knees, as if a great weight fell upon his shoulders, and the weakened vampire felt no different to him and the rest of the villagers at that moment. Her chest had tightened, and her arms could barely even twitch. This pressure... it was intense. Crushing. Deadly.

The girl in the straw hat seemed unaffected by this sudden change, however, and merrily strolled towards the figure by the tree. After a few moments, the air seemed to revert to its normal, breathable state, and Kurumi inhaled deeply, warily turning her eyes towards the figure.

The crimson eyes that stared back told Kurumi all she needed to know: What stood before her was the mightiest creature to ever exist.

Once more finding it inexplicably impossible to breathe, the vampire stared, wide-eyed with terror, trembling in the girl's arms. Panicked thoughts raced through her mind; who the hell was this monster? Why did she save her? What could she want? Why did her week suck so much?

"Pitiful creature, isn't she?" the figure spoke to the girl, who simply nodded, "Well, she'll need to recover quickly, if this is to be worth my time. Go take her home."

"Yes, Master," the girl nodded once more and continued walking, leaving the green-haired woman where she was. Kurumi hadn't budged an inch since she laid eyes upon this 'master'. She didn't want to move. Permission wasn't given, and something that monstrously powerful surely punished everything she did not personally approve off-

"Relax, you're okay," the girl said in what was presumably meant to be soothing, but sounded more like a mocking tone to the frightened vampire's ears, "I said we came to help you."

"...Wh..." Kurumi took a moment to decide what was the more pressing question: Why, who were they, or what the hell was... _that_?

"Master's home is about thirteen miles away," the girl said, glancing briefly at the vampire in her arms, "and you're still weak. Try going to sleep or something, I'll fill you in later."

Considering this girl was associated with Hell Incarnate, Kurumi wasn't sure letting her guard drop was going to help much in the 'survival' strategy she had. Then again, she could have been killed at any point since this girl appeared, so that was a positive sign that her life was still salvageable. And truthfully, her energy was at an all-time low. Massive blood-loss and emotional beatings had that kind of effect, it turned out.

"...Well... wake me the second we get there," Kurumi made a quiet request, closing her eyes. The girl said nothing, and after a few moments, found herself falling into a surprisingly deep sleep.

…

…

…

Kurumi felt rather stiff when she opened her eyes, as if she'd been sleeping for so long that her muscles had grown frigid with disuse. With a small groan, she stretched her arms wide, yawning.

Her head felt fuzzy, memories slightly unclear as to what had happened recently. And she felt drained, somehow. Maybe she just needed a little blood, but why did she even feel this way, anyway?"

"Good morning," someone spoke, spooking the vampire into scrambling off of the bed with a fearful cry and crashing to the floor, entangled within the bed sheets. The original speaker was silent for a few moments.

"...What's gotten into you? I said we weren't gonna hurt you." the mysterious voice said with a hint of impatience. Kurumi, crawling out of her makeshift net, leaped to her feet, ready to confront whoever spoke.

Seeing the girl with the blonde curls brought her memories back with a jolt. The freakishly fast hunter, the villagers, the cross... this girl...

"Who are you?" Kurumi demanded to know, curling her fists and wincing. A quick glance showed that her hands had regenerated enough bone and tissue to be usable, albeit weak. Well, that was lovely.

"You're welcome, little vampire, it was a pleasure helping you out," the girl replied with a small frown, rising from the chair on the other side of the bed. Without the hat, it was clear that this girl was definitely very young. And pretty. Her amber eyes flicked down and up, an eyebrow raising on her forehead, "by the way, I left that robe there for a reason."

"Robe?" Kurumi looked at the bed, spotting a now-crumpled robe on the floor, no doubt fallen thanks to her startled thrashing from earlier. Looking even further down, Kurumi saw her bare feet, bare legs-

_Oh. Oh, goddamn it._ Kurumi felt a blush rising when she noticed just how uncovered she was. This suddenly got a tad awkward for her.

But apparently not for Saviour Person, who just sighed and turned around, "You know how to put it on, right? Please do."

More than happy to comply with this, the now-robed Kurumi coughed into her fist in an attempt to dispel her embarrassment, then continued with her interrogation, "All right, I'll ask again! Who the hell are you?!"

With a glance over her shoulder, the girl deemed it safe to turn and introduce herself with a proud smile, "I'm Master's one and only servant! Elly's my name, and everything I do is the whim of my dear Master!"

...Kurumi didn't know why, but something about that statement annoyed the hell out of her.

"Okay... and who is your master?" Kurumi continued, then paled a little, "...Wait, it's not that scary lady, is it?"

"I prefer to think of myself as 'elegant' and 'imposing', really," the master said with a small smile. This elicited a strangled scream that died the second it left Kurumi's lips, who had not heard her approach the room at all.

Entering said room, this 'master' stood before the shaking vampire, who was far too terrified to turn away. The green-haired woman gently grasped Kurumi's chin, turning her head from side to side, an almost bored look on her face, then took hold of Kurumi's left hand and studied what evidence remained of the injury.

"You seem strangely weak for a vampire," she said at last, "I hope a little blood can fix that, otherwise this really will have been a waste of my time."

"...O-okay...?" Kurumi, unsure of what to make of this, silently prayed that the monster would leave very quickly. Instead, she felt as if her chin was suddenly caught in a vice.

"While you are in my household, I request that you address me with the proper courtesy. It's only polite, you know," she said in a cheerfully murderous voice, crimson eyes alight with the intent to torment, "To you, Dear, I am Lady Kazami, do you understand?"

Fighting her natural instinct to flee, Kurumi tried nodding, and began crying out when she was sure her chin suddenly cracked, "I-I-I mean, y-yes, L-L-Lady Kazami!"

"Good!" suddenly, she was relinquished, and left nursing her throbbing chin, she watched fearfully as Kazami and her servant conversed about dinner. Something about blood and a little meat to go with it or something. Kurumi was more worried about whether or not they would catch up if she suddenly flew out the window... though judging by the drawn curtains and what little light tried to filter through the thick fabric, she wouldn't last long out there, either.

Feeling incredibly isolated and helpless, Kurumi wondered just how the hell she was going to get out of this one.

"Oh no, this is terrible!" Gengetsu cried, tightly hugging a body pillow for no adequately explained reason, "However did she escape, Kury?!"

Kurumi stared, "...You mean, how did _I_ escape? Actually, why are you even asking that? You know I never left those two!"

"Sssh! You're ruining the immersion!" Gengetsu cried out.

"...Glad to know my personal Hell is so gripping and enjoyable," the vampire sighed, "Well, now that it's been ruined, guess there's no more to t-"

Three seconds later, after a _thoroughly _convincing argument from the demonic terror that in no way involved life endangerment and mental scarring, Kurumi felt rather compelled to finish her tale.

As it turned out, 'dinner' was just a dead guy Yuuka dragged into the house and thrown on the floor for Kurumi to feast upon. Probably one of those villagers, too.

Kurumi wasn't exactly averse to the idea of feeding from a corpse – it was, after all much simpler than going to the effort of knocking someone out, or hypnotising them. It tasted like utter crap, though, and tended to leave Kurumi wanting to rid herself of the taste by ripping out her own tongue.

However, since she was fairly sure that the youkai, Yuuka Kazami, actually _would_ pull out her tongue for refusing this 'charitable' meal, she felt it best not to mention her blood preferences this time around. And hey, at the end of the day, it helped return her strength.

And, after another look-over by the powerful youkai, Kurumi gulped when she saw the annoyed look on Yuuka's face, "...Hm, still nothing special. Not even worth keeping as a pet."

_Dodged a stake, there. _Kurumi highlighted a positive to this assessment.

"But I do hate worthless objects..." the youkai muttered to herself, which really helped to make Kurumi feel very endangered. God forbid she stop feeling that for a minute.

Tutting to herself, Yuuka Kazami sighed, disdainfully continuing, "well, you're not worth any effort to keep or dispose of, I'm afraid. Feel free to let yourself out."

Blink, blink. "...Excuse me?" the surprised vampire said, and immediately shrank at the disapproving eye that the flower youkai gave her, "N-never mind, I got it! Ahaha, just, um, walk away, right?"

"If you so desire," Yuuka replied, turning away, "I have no obligation to keep you, after all. And my current servant is more than capable of any task I require of her."

Yuuka walked away, leaving Kurumi to ponder her luck. Not only was she rescued, but her rescuer was just nice enough to let her go without any sort of compensation? Well, that was one hell of a chance to not pass up!

The ecstatic vampire would have skipped to the front door right then, but the wobbling steps she took reminded her that maybe that was a bit of a bad idea. Wearing just a robe and wandering under the sun would also be ill-advised things to do, really. So, with a growl of frustration, the vampire made the very hesitant decision to stay.

"Shouldn't you be in bed or something?" Elly asked, once more startling the vampire. The sudden movement also caused Kurumi to fall on the floor, leaving the servant to regard her like a pitiful little creature, unable to fend for itself. This bothered Kurumi more than the surprise query.

Shaking her head, Elly offered her hand to the vampire, who grudgingly took it and hoisted herself from the ground, "Wounds still not healed?"

"I only just had dinner. Plus it was pretty damn stale, so don't expect me to laugh off anything more dangerous than a paper-cut just yet," Kurumi grunted, flexing her hands with a grimace. At least she could move and holds things, albeit semi-effectively.

"Huh. You must really suck for a vampire," Elly commented with brutal, puntastic honesty. Kurumi experienced a twitching eye that indicated suppressed rage. Perhaps her survival instinct was trying its hardest not to bite the hand currently keeping her alive, but still, the injured vampire would not have minded punching that annoying girl right now.

Instead, Kurumi remained silent, instead opting to walk towards that bedroom she woke up in. At least, that was the intended destination; Kurumi had no idea where it was, but "away from _her_" was a good enough guideline to go on for now.

Two hours of wandering later, Kurumi lay on the large, canopied bed, staring at the ceiling. Her mind was brimming once more on what to do with herself now. Through a strange combination of horrendous and miraculous luck, she was still alive, and safe. Well, as safe as one could be when under the same roof as a creature whose mere presence was enough to reduce your sanity to nothing.

However, Yuuka Kazami wasn't her enemy either, so as long as she behaved, it was all good.

With a frustrated grunt, Kurumi rolled to her side, now staring intently at the bedroom door. Until she could properly move, she was stuck. Tomorrow at the earliest was when the vampire could up and leave without looking back, but... the more she thought about, the more hesitant Kurumi became, and it was bugging her as to why.

The bedroom door opened, and Elly entered, carrying a silver tray laden with meat products. Kurumi raised an eyebrow at this as she moved to a seated position, "Already time for supper? I only just got here."

"Probably because you were wandering around like a headless chicken with no sense of direction," Elly replied in an aggravating manner, "but since you've decided to stay on as a guest, my master saw fit to extent some courtesy to you."

"...I see," Kurumi could feel the start of a sneer welling, and hoped the girl would leave before it became too much to resist, "well, I can't say I expected that from her. I suppose I should thank her?"

Elly, now bearing the most absolute smug grin ever adorned by a living creature, replied brightly, "of course you should! That my master is even bothering to acknowledge your presence further is reason enough to worship the very ground she stands on! Well, that, and Master is just deserving of infinite praise in general."

The servant handed the tray to a rather bothered Kurumi, "I can relay your gratitude, Vampire."

"Name's Kurumi," said vampire pointed out with an edge to her voice, "...And I can tell her myself."

Elly was silent for a brief moment, but after a shrug, simply said, "Fine, suit yourself."

She turned and headed for the door, but stopped. Glancing over her shoulder, the servant said bluntly, "You're not of any interest to Master. I would recommend not over-staying your welcome."

Kurumi glared back at those amber eyes, feeling her patience die a horrible death from within, "...Is that so? Hmph, I dunno., if she keeps someone as bland as you around, I think my chances are quite favorable."

"...What was that?" Elly asked in a cold voice.

"Hm? Oh, nothing, just ignore little ol' me," Kurumi smirked, "Why don't you go back to licking your master's boots or something?"

"Frenemies for life!" Gengetsu giggled, clapping her hands cheerfully. Kurumi took this as an excuse to stop for now, and instead tested the bonds around her wrists again.

"Hey hey hey! You're not finished already, are you?" the demon asked disapprovingly. The vampire sighed, really wishing her luck wasn't so damn pitiful.

"...There's nothing left to tell, really. I stuck with Kazami and her pet and we eventually wound up her, having the ever-loving hell beat out of us until we became best friends," the vampire summarised, "and like I said, I don't care for my life story."

Gengetsu 'pouted' (at least, Kurumi assumed that was what she was doing, it was hard to tell when she never stopped grinning like that), folding her arms and looking much like a scolded child refusing to acknowledge their wrongdoings, "Way to spoil the immersion, Kury. Now the final part's all ruined."

"Who's gonna complain?" Kurumi sighed, "Now, please, can you let me go? I don't know about you, but I still have calls from nature that I can't exactly ignore."

The angelic-looking monster, however, didn't seem to hear, now seemingly lost in thought as she muttered, "well, at she opened up... with that, part one is completed! I'm so amazing at this..."

"...Um...?" To the captive vampire's ears, this sounded like an arcane chant to ensure further torment upon her mind, and she very much did not care for that at all. Her day had already sucked more than enough, after all.

"Kury!" Gengetsu suddenly picked up and hugged the stunned vampire, tightly squeezing all of her affection into the action, "You know I love you a lot, right?"

"I wish I didn't, really, but, um, I guess?"

"And everything I do is for your well-being, right?"

Well, that didn't sound good. Kurumi began to squirm futilely in the demon's grasp.

Gengetsu began stroking the vampire's hair affectionately, her voice taking on a soft, almost motherly tone to accompany her usual cheery terror, "It may be hard, but I know you can persevere~! You may hate me for it, but someday you'll thank me!"

"...I-I'm all for not doing whatever you're gonna do," Kurumi struggled even harder now, "In fact, I'd even hug you back if we didn't do whatever you're gonna do! B-because I really don't wanna go through anything sc-"

Suddenly, she was tossed into the air. And kept rising. From somewhere below, Gengetsu shouted encouraging words as she continued to ascend, much to Kurumi's utter confusion.

The surroundings grew bright, quickly becoming nothing more than a white void in which she floating confusingly within for a few seconds. Had she just been thrown into Purgatory or something? That was... random. But hey, she had been held captive by a crazy monster, so... could be worse? Could also be much better, though.

Suddenly, Kurumi fell as if gravity became a thing once more, and she found herself landing painfully on the ground below. Huh.

Someone grunted in surprise, and soft footsteps made the short distance to her side. Kurumi groaned and struggled to her knees as the nearby person asked, "Hey, uh... are you okay? Where'd you just fall from?"

Kurumi turned her gaze to the source of the voice, taking in the green leggings, Chinese dress, noticeable bust, long Auburn hair, and the face of a young, curious woman wearing a hat that was also green.

"...Nowhere," Kurumi replied, her answer both evasive and truthful. She climbed slowly back to her feet, none the worse for wear, but bearing an even greater disdain than ever before for the elder dream sister.

"...Uh-huh?" the woman was still very much confused, and scrutinised Kurumi closely, eyebrows suddenly leaping upwards, "Hey, wait... are you a vampire?!"

Kurumi gave her a questioning look, "...Sure. What gave it away?" She asked with a flutter of her wings.

"You remind me of the Mistress, for some reason," the woman shrugged, "Oh, right! Er, do you have any business with her? Because, uh... you're trespassing otherwise."

"Uh..." Kurumi glanced around the area, noting that was within the sprawling garden of a red-bricked mansion, surrounded by large walls that stretched for a great distance. The place seemed fancy enough, she supposed, even with all the dark shadows cast by the moon, "I... see. Well, I didn't really mean to, so-"

"Wait a minute... you should meet the Mistress!" the woman suddenly said happily, evidently coming up with what she considered the Greatest Idea Ever. "You're both vampires and I bet you're the same age! You can probably be friends or something!"

Raising an eyebrow at this statement, Kurumi replied, "...That's... lovely and all, miss...?"

"Meiing! Hong Meiling!"

"...Meiling. I'm not really into the whole 'meet and greet' thing, plus I was sorta thrown all the way over here, and I'd rather get back and kick something," the vampire continued, "Not to mention you said I was trespassing a second ago."

The auburn-haired woman looked rather disappointed, "Aww... but, I'm sure the mistress would enjoy your company!"

"Even so, I really should get back," Kurumi shrugged, turning away. It was around that moment that she realised something, and turned back to inquire the gatekeeper, "...You wouldn't happen to know how to cross realms or something, would you?"

Receiving a blank look in return, Kurumi groaned with frustration, "...In that case, I'll go see this mistress of yours."

"Really?! Wonderful! Come on inside, I'll go inform her!" Meiling gushed, pulling Kurumi within. She noted the strength contained within the woman's arms, finding it commendable even to a vampire. At least that made her a more useful servant than Elly.

...Well, maybe Elly's cooking was incredible, but still.

"Please, wait right here!" Meiling requested as she bounded up the large, sprawling staircase in the centre of the foyer. Taking a quick look around her surroundings, it was obviously the home of a vampire. All the windows were carefully covered with thick, crimson curtains, the hallways lit by the candles and occasional lantern adorning the walls.

...It was absurdly spacious, too, Kurumi realised. From the outside, it was a large-looking mansion, but inside... the foyer alone must have been big enough to be considered a sizable plot of land. She had a strange feeling that the corridors stretched nigh-infinitely, too. Curious.

As she circled on the spot, taking in the magnificently-decorated foyer, something pressed itself to the back of her neck. Cold, silver steel, severing hair strands as someone readied to kill.

Funnily enough, it wasn't the fact that a knife was pressed to her vulnerable spine that frightened her. It wasn't the possibility that she had been lured to death by a suspiciously generous woman. It was the fact that she recognised the cold voice that spoke to her. The voice that matched the weapon keeping her at bay. The suddenness of the attack...

Kurumi nearly fainted on the spot.

"Explain your presence or die, intruder." Spoke Kurumi's nightmare.

* * *

**Phew. This took a long time to write. Guess that's what happens when I'm trying to juggle anime, games, manga, random videos, other writing projects, visual novels and a little bit of college on the side.**

**Anyways, ever since I was writing _Dreaming Terror_, I wanted to expand upon Kurumi's backstory, that I of course fabricated wholly out of that fanon stuff. With any luck, this isn't total crap and yadda yadda, I think I've put myself down in every Author's Note so far, so I'll skip that for now and instead thank you for taking the time to read, review, whatever. It's always good to know if someone enjoys whatever I put out.**

**Now to spend about three years writing the second half.**


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